Hotel And Restaurant Times met with Stephen Carr, Principal and Owner of Stephen Carr Architects
I knew from the age of 12 what I wanted to do,” says Stephen Carr, principal, and owner of Stephen Carr Architects in Wexford since 1989. “I wanted to design buildings. There’s nothing else I would ever have done.”
Originally from Banbridge, County Down, Stephen Carr moved to his mother’s native county (Wexford) in 1979 at the age of 18.
He got immersed in the vernacular of architecture at a young age, helping out his carpenter father in putting roofs on houses from the age of 13.
Having left college in 1985, Stephen took a sabbatical in 1986 to Australia before the draw of his native land saw him return to set up his own practice in 1987. It was a move that went against the emigratory tide at the time, but he was clear on which direction he wanted to go in. Furthermore, he had no intention of moving to Dublin where his brother was already working and spending hours out of his day driving to and from work.
“It’s all about trying to understand the customer; to understand what they want; to understand why they’re engaging you. For me, architecture isn’t about creating a building that consists of a collection of rooms that fit in and then make it look sexy from the outside. I’ve always had the philosophy that if a building doesn’t perform the function for which it was designed, then it shouldn’t be built.”
The design of a building comes, he says, from understanding the needs of the client and applying those to the design. He was asked once to give a presentation to an engineering firm to design a new building for them. The firm’s board asked him if he had had much experience designing industrial buildings. He hadn’t. They asked if Stephen had a mock-up design for them and wondered why it was that he hadn’t when three other firms that were consulted had already provided them with a design.
“I told them that you should give the job to one of them,” recalls Stephen. “I said that they must be better than me, because if they can come in and design your master plan for your factory without discussing in-depth your business, what the problems are and understanding where you currently are, then they’re better than me.”
He then proceeded to tell them that I hadn’t had any experience designing a destination hotel spa until he designed the Monart Hotel and Spa in Wexford – a design which went on to win a slew of international awards.
Stephen says that his reputation for teasing out all the potential problems around functionality now and in future years can be a headache for managers of businesses who often don’t look that far ahead and are understandably caught up with today’s problems, but his role is to look at the bigger picture to ensure money is spent wisely.
“I continue to get repeat business from some clients for 35 years. I take away their pain and sometimes they don’t even know that they have pain because if there’s some aspect about their building that isn’t working, they might think, ‘oh well, that’s the best I can get.’ For me, it’s never the best you can get.
“Whether I’m designing a house or a hotel or a factory, I always design it as if I’m the one who’s going to use it and use every single piece of it.” Also scale and budget doesn’t matter, its more about achieving a satisfactory result which works for our client for many years!
Often buildings are designed to incorporate what’s trendy or fashionable at the moment with little consideration to what really works which quickly dates and needs to be remodelled or renovated. Stephen feels it’s so important to design with functionality, longevity, and timelessness in mind at all times.
“When it comes to hospitality I believe, there are four criteria that will determine whether or not your visitors had a good time and are going to come back: ambiance, service, fare (the food on offer) and the price. And of those four, it’s actually price that is the least important.
“For example, if you’re going to a Michelin-star restaurant, you already have a fair expectation on the price. Equally, if you’re going to a fish-and-chips takeaway, you have a good idea what the price is going to be. Of course, you want to get value for your money, but the price isn’t the determining factor – it’s the other three.” “I have said to clients we can create the building and the ambiance to get the customer in for the first time; however, it’s up to you to get them to come back.”
One of the most interesting and prestigious projects that Stephen’s company is currently working on is the new hospitality resort at Kilmore Quay in Wexford. The enormous €200-million-euro complex is an ambitious one with many different aspects and moving parts to it, but Stephen firmly believes that every part of such a place should be an interesting space, with no long, boring drab corridors that come to a dead end. We are also currently working on a number of well-known landmark buildings which are very exciting.
“To sit down and master-plan the design of that place took weeks,” says Stephen. One of the points he insisted upon was that there would be a view of the Saltee Islands from every single part of the public spaces in the entire complex.
“We had to design, re-design and re-design again so that the circulation would work; that everyone would enjoy it as if it was made and designed for them.”
Stephen’s portfolio in the hotel sector is impressive, including such landmark properties as Ferrycarrig Hotel in Wexford, Hotel Kilkenny, The Riverside Park Hotel in Enniscorthy, Midlands Park Hotel in Portlaoise (complete renovation in 2015) (Visit www.scarchitects.ie to see more)
Whatever the scale of the project, the fundamentals are the same, he says, speaking of hospitality:
“Whether or not you’re following a trend, you still have to get the fundamentals right – of the spaces and the circulation. You’ve got two users – you’ve got the public and your staff and both of them need to get around effectively and efficiently, but also enjoyably.
“When I was a student, I worked as a barman, so I know how these spaces work. The other thing is that, when I create something, I want to see it done; I want to see it finished, I want to stay involved. It’s not a case of, ‘Here’s a set of drawings, go knock yourself out and built it!’ We will stay with you, and we will help you work through it, from initial design through planning to tendering and interior design / fit-out.”
The level of challenge is important to Stephen. He’s not someone who ever wanted to have it easy; to get a job that he knows is going to be easy. Such projects give him the odd sleepless night, but they also bring a sense of excitement; of being involved in something that can make a significant impact on one particular area and impact upon the users’ experience.
His daughter Nicole and her husband Brendan (both architects) are now directors in the company, continuing the family legacy in the business and looking forward to meeting whatever challenges come their way.
“We look forward to new challenges so don’t hesitate to contact us”
Email: [email protected] or call us on: 053 9124977
Visit www.scarchitects.ie
